Waking up at dawn and finding him there, once again in the top ten, after a dreadful evening (and night) in the Atlantic. That between Saturday and Sunday was the longest night on the Route du Rhum so far, because the descent towards the Antilles – in the end, yesterday afternoon the leading group, which includes IBSA, began to go down with a 220-200 degree course – proved to be very demanding, with sudden gusts of wind that caused two dismastings, fortunately without damage for some sailors involved.
Alberto hangs on, and well: “We never let go, here”, he said Saturday morning in the first video sent from aboard, in a moment of respite, knowing that the relative calm would not last long.
Alberto and the Class40 IBSA come out of the long night in eighth position, in the group of the leaders, spread over approximately twenty miles. A dozen Class40s are already out of action: they are taking shelter in various ports on the coast around Finisterre. Current wind strength is around 20 knots, and the pace is not yet wide enough to relax. It will go on like this for at least the whole day, perhaps even a part of Monday: Azores and trade winds are not very close, and it still takes time to hook them up, which means staying in the cold winter system, while fatigue increases. One hundred and eighty-four miles covered in the last 24 hours: for Alberto it is a professional’s step.
